"What!"
"What speed! Only five days have passed and the imperial edict has already arrived?"
"I haven't even taken over Yunzhong yet!"
"Could it be that Dong Zhuo suddenly died of a sudden illness?"
"Or perhaps Dong Zhuo was killed in battle while attacking Shanwu?"
"If that's the case, it's truly a case of heaven being jealous of talent, hehe!"
Inside the military tents outside Shaling City.
Ding Yuan received the imperial messenger who had come from Pianguan.
"Prefect Ding, congratulations! My family is working for Eunuch Du."
"Eunuch Du is waiting for you to return to Pianguan to receive the imperial decree!"
A young eunuch smiled and congratulated Ding Yuan.
They already knew that Ding Yuan had been transferred to Liangzhou as governor to quell the rebellion, which was a promotion from his current position!
"Sir, are you addressing me as Prefect?"
Ding Yuan was even more surprised, but his surprise was mixed with excitement and delight.
Lu Bu, Zhang Yang, and the others' tired faces perked up.
What's going on? Is Ding Yuan going to take up the post of Governor of Bingzhou?
But they haven't seen the city walls in the clouds yet!
"Hehe, yes, Lord Ding will soon be the governor of Liangzhou."
"I urge Lord Ding to set off immediately to return to Pianguan to receive the imperial decree, lest Eunuch Du remain waiting anxiously."
The young eunuch had a beaming smile and shifty eyes, seemingly hinting that he was preparing to ask for a reward.
These junior eunuchs all had their own circles and information channels; they had already found out everything about the appointment of a local official.
Announcing the good news in advance can even earn you some celebratory money.
"Quartermaster, take ten strings of cash from my personal salary to give this eunuch some tea!"
Regardless of whether he took over Yunzhong or gained the upper hand in the comparison with Dong Zhuo.
Now that the imperial edict has been issued and the appointment has been made, there is no reason to disobey it.
etc!
What?
Governor of Liangzhou!
Ding Yuan suddenly realized something was wrong, while Lü Bu and Zhang Yang exclaimed in surprise.
How... how did he become the governor of Liangzhou?
"Sir, are you sure you heard me right?" Ding Yuan asked incredulously.
"That's right! Governor Ding, you're going to Liangzhou to take up your new post!"
The young eunuch replied confidently, "If you don't believe me, you'll understand once you get to Eunuch Du in Pianguan and hear the imperial edict!"
"Then...do you know which official took office as the governor of Bingzhou?"
Ding Yuan took a cloth bag from the quartermaster and stuffed it into the young eunuch's hand.
The young eunuch weighed it in his hand; it was quite heavy. He then said, "I heard it's Lord Dong."
"Dong...Dong Zhuo?"
"Yes, that's him!"
Ding Yuan was momentarily dazed and stood frozen in place.
"My lord...my lord, remember to return to Pianguan as soon as possible to receive the imperial decree. It seems there is an important matter in Liangzhou that awaits your attention!"
Ding Yuan didn't have time to think about how this little eunuch knew so much.
The information he revealed was something Ding Yuan found hard to process.
With no heavy defenses and Dong Zhuo's rabble, how did the city fall in just a few days?
"Brother Jianyang, shall we continue our attack on the city?" Zhang Yang asked.
"Fengxian, you lead the army to garrison here. Zhishu, you come back to Pianguan with me!"
"I will not believe it unless I hear it with my own ears!"
Ding Yuan felt no joy at becoming the governor; instead, he felt a slight sense of loss.
Zhang Yang frowned in thought, and when he heard Ding Yuan tell him to go back to Pianguan, he seemed to understand something:
"Brother Jianyang, let's withdraw our troops and go back!"
"The facts cannot be changed, there is no point in keeping the troops here!"
Ding Yuan paced back and forth twice, then stepped out of the tent, looked at the walls of Shaling City, and said bitterly:
"Sigh! Let's retreat!"
"Sir, if you leave, what will we do? What about the place of refuge you promised us?"
Shi Tu Gu became anxious, "Along the way, we have served as your henchmen, and thousands of our brothers have died."
"You heard it too, the imperial court has ordered me to take up my post in Liangzhou. Why don't you bring your men to Liangzhou as well?"
Ding Yuan shrugged and ignored the corpse-like bones.
Before long, the more than 10,000 Bingzhou soldiers had completely withdrawn.
Seeing that Ding Yuan had abandoned him so heartlessly, Shi Tu Gu harbored resentment, but there was nothing he could do about it.
He had no choice but to leave alone with the remaining five thousand Xiongnu soldiers.
"General, the enemy has retreated!"
At this moment, in Shaling City, soldiers had already sent word to Zhang Liao, who was taking a short rest.
Zhang Liao immediately got up and rushed to the city wall, only to see Ding Yuan's troops winding away into the distance.
Looking at the date again, it was exactly five days later.
"The enemy has withdrawn, and our objective has been achieved. Gentlemen, take a short rest, and we will head back to Yunzhong."
"Although the Marquis has fifty or sixty thousand Xianbei people, if we arrive too late, we won't even get a sip of soup!"
"You know General Xue loves to trick people, haha!"
Zhang Liao shouted loudly to the five captains of the 5,000-strong spear battalion.
"Return to Yunzhong!"
"Steal kills!"
The five captains roared.
......
Five days passed quietly in Cloud City.
The Xianbei army to the north did not attack, but only occasionally sent out one or two squads of a thousand cavalrymen to wander around.
Yuwen Lie suggested that Tuoba Gao wait for Heba and Qubei's 20,000 troops to arrive before surrounding Yunzhong and clearing the surrounding area.
But it wasn't until the fourth day that Hebaxian and Qubei appeared in the west with an army of 20,000.
"Khan, Wuyuan County is already under our control. General Dugu Xin is stationed at Manyi Valley to ensure smooth passage between Yunzhong and Wuyuan."
He Baxian was another burly man with a booming voice, clearly a fierce general.
"This is none other than the head of the Qubei household!"
He first introduced the old man next to him who had a somewhat sleazy appearance and two strands of goatee.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
